Racegoers treated to glorious sunshine at Royal Ascot

The eyes of the sporting world turned to Ascot Racecourse this week for the return of the prestigious flat racing festival.

Racegoers were treated to glorious sunshine for the meeting’s first three days and this was reflected in booming attendances.

The racecourse reported a crowd of 45,551 for day one of the festival – up four per cent from last year.

Punters also streamed through the gates on day two with an attendance of 41,571 – up 3.5 per cent from last year.

One guest not in the crowd was the Princess of Wales who had been due to attend alongside her husband Prince William on Wednesday.

Princess Kate has been making a gradual return to public life after her cancer diagnosis last year.

It is understood she was disappointed to miss Wednesday’s racing but is trying to find the right balance as she fully returns to public engagements. King Charles and Queen Camilla attended the first three days of the festival.

Yesterday (Thursday) saw glamorous racegoers don flamboyant hats and impressive outfits for the third day of the festival – popularly known as Ladies’ Day.

Visitors had to balance fashion with functionality as temperatures soared to 28 degrees Celsius.

On the track, Field of Gold put in a scorching performance to match the weather on Tuesday.

John and Thady Gosden’s grey colt emphatically saw off his rivals to win the St James’s Palace Stakes.